8:24 am

Fri October 5, 2012

National Unemployment Rate Drops, Austin's Employed May Be Seeing Raises

The national unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in September. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. added 114,00 jobs last month. This means the number of unemployed in the U.S. is now 12.1 million. It's the first time this year that unemployment has fallen below 8 percent.

So what does this mean for Austin? As KUT News reported last month, Austin added 5,900 jobs in August, and local unemployment dropped to 5.9 percent, well below the national average.

But what about the already employed in Austin? According to staffing agency Robert Half International, technology professionals are expected to salary increases of about 5.3 percent. Administrative staff may see salaries rise by 3.5 percent. And accounting and finance salaries could jump 3.3 percent.

RHI Central Texas director Danann Smith says that these positions are seeing increases because they continue to stay in demand.

As a state, Texas still has a higher unemployment rate than Austin, but it's still nearly a point below the national average.